UCLG-MEWA Participated in Palestine Conference 2.12.2014

On behalf of UCLG-MEWA, Dr. İhsan İKİZER, UCLG-MEWA General Coordinator participated in the ‘’International Conference of Local Authorities in Solidarity with the Palestinian People’’ that was held in Ramallah, Palestine on 21-23 November 2014, within the scope of ‘’ United Nations International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 2014’’.

The official opening speech of the conference was made by Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, the President of Palestinian State at Ramallah Culture Centre. Mr. Kadir TOPBAŞ, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolis and President of UCLG participated in the conference via a video message. Mr. Lokman ÇAĞRICI, Mayor of Bağcılar and UCLG Treasurer was present at the conference. Moreover, with an organization of Union of Municipalities of Turkey, mayors, councillors and bureaucrats of municipalities participated in the conference. El-Halil and Eriha Municipalities were visited and bilateral negotiations were made after the conference that lasted two days. At the end of the conference a declaration was published that is called ‘’Palestine Declaration: the International Conference of Local Authorities’’.

Some of the topics that were discussed during the conference were:

Local Authorities as a pillar of the Palestinian State, Democracy and Local Governance at Local Level, Development of Human Resources of Local Governments, Development and Urban Planning Issues in Palestine, Ways and Strategies of Improving the Palestinian Territorial Integration, Occupation and Territorial Fragmentation from Oslo until today, Framework of Decentralization in Palestine, International Actions of Local Authorities in Solidarity with Palestine, and Solidarity and Two States Solution.